Texas football playoff brackets more unbalanced than ever

The high school football playoffs in Texas are divided into two divisions in each classification, from six-man teams in 1A to the large schools in 5A. The Division I field, featuring the slightly larger schools in each class, are often a little stronger than Division II.

But it has never been this unbalanced in 5A. There are eight unbeaten 5A teams in the state, and they're all battling for the Division I title. The top six teams in the state rankings, and nine of the top 10, are in Division I.

Click here to view MaxPreps' Texas football playoff brackets.

Projecting the path of Trinity (Euless), the No. 1 team in MaxPreps' Xcellent 25 rankings presented by the Army National Guard, shows just how loaded Division I is this season.



Trinity (10-0) will probably get a second-round matchup with Allen (9-1), which is the last team to beat Trinity in the playoffs. Martin (Arlington) (8-2), which has won eight straight, could be Trinity's opponent in the third round, followed by Coppell (10-0) in a regional final. In the state semifinals, Trinity could face one of three undefeated teams: Stony Point (Round Rock), Klein Collins (Spring) or The Woodlands.

If Trinity makes it to the championship, it could meet Katy (10-0) in what would be one of the most anticipated Texas high school playoff games ever. Katy, No. 4 in the Xcellent 25 rankings, won 5A Division II titles in 2007 and '08 and was a finalist last year. Katy is in the Division I bracket for the first time since 1997.

Obviously, winning Division I will be quite a challenge. Winning Division II certainly won't be easy, but the lack of powerhouses creates great opportunities for Dallas-area teams such as Guyer (Denton) (8-2), Marcus (Flower Mound) (8-2), Flower Mound (7-3) and Cedar Hill (7-3).

Cedar Hill is the only one of those teams to win a district title this season, and the Longhorns actually shared that title with Duncanville. Each of them, however, has realistic hopes of winning a state title.

More top stories of the last week from around the Dallas area.

2. Two-point conversion makes two teams winners: Trailing Hebron by one with 58 seconds remaining, Flower Mound Marcus decided to attempt a two-point conversion. Running back Rufus Mason ran in the conversion to give Marcus a 22-21 win over Hebron and give Plano a spot in the playoffs. Plano (7-3) needed Hebron (6-4) to lose to earn the final playoff spot in District 8-5A. Marcus (8-2) had already clinched a playoff spot and coach Bryan Erwin said, whether his team won or lost, he wanted to avoid overtime.

3. Southlake Carroll's 47-game home winning streak ends: Denton Guyer held Carroll (Southlake) to only 160 yards of offense and won 28-14 to end Carroll's 47-game winning streak at Dragon Stadium. The streak dated back to Sept. 21, 2001, when Carroll was emerging into a powerhouse that would win four state titles in five years.



4. Flower Mound QB close to state record: Flower Mound senior Paul Millard threw for 425 yards and five touchdowns last week and has thrown for 4,188 yards this season. He's now 664 yards from matching the single-season record for passing yards held by the Texas Longhorns' Garrett Gilbert, who threw for 4,852 yards in 2008 at Austin Lake Travis. Millard probably needs at least two games to break the record, so Flower Mound (7-3) will need to beat Southlake Carroll (7-3) this week in the first round of the 5A Division II playoffs.

TOP PERFORMERS
Among the outstanding efforts last week:

* Layton Lowry, Argyle football: The running back rushed 31 times for 301 yards and four touchdowns as Argyle (10-0) won a showdown with previously undefeated Sanger, 56-45.

* Jude Akpunku, Cedar Hill football: The defensive end made 16 tackles, had four sacks and forced a fumble as Cedar Hill beat Duncanville, 35-31, to claim a share of the District 5-5A title.

* Beau Nowell, Poteet (Mesquite) football: The quarterback completed 16 of 24 passes for 355 yards and six touchdowns in a 56-38 win over Waxahachie.

BRIEFLY
Nevada Community defensive back Cody Miller suffered a concussion and a fractured vertebra in Friday's game against Lovejoy and was taken by CareFlight to a hospital. Community football coach Bryan O'Neal said that Miller didn't lose any movement or feeling and the injury won't require surgery. The injury occurred with 1:05 remaining in the game and Lovejoy leading 68-0.

Matt Wixon is the high school sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He can be reached at mwixon@dallasnews.com or on Twitter @mattwixon.